bloodrayne
07-02-2006, 09:50 PM
Attack Memory: ‘Dogs Were Eating Him Alive’
Kansas City, Missouri - A woman recounts the horrors of her husband’s encounter with pit bulls.
The dogs literally tore the skin away from Alan Hill’s body and showed no signs of stopping.
He tried fighting them with his hands. He tried choking them. But the pit bulls dragged him through the vacant lot in Independence like a rag doll. His only hope, he later told his wife, was to crawl underneath his Jeep parked nearby. But the animals kept pulling him away.
“Those dogs were eating him alive,” said Connie Hill, Alan’s wife. “He said they were just chewing his skin.”
When the three animals stopped, Hill somehow climbed in his Jeep and called 911. He told a dispatcher he was dying.
Now, more than a month after the May 4 attack on Hill and two other men, Hill remains hospitalized. He may never fully recover.
Connie Hill and other family members spoke to reporters Friday for the first time since the attack.
Hill was attacked as he finished mowing property he owns near 23rd Street and Kings Highway. The same dogs later attacked a man walking along 23rd Street and another man mowing a few blocks away. The other men have been released from the hospital.
Hill’s family said they hoped awareness of his injuries would help officials in Independence and other area cities ban pit bulls and other dogs that attack. The family plans to present a petition with more than 1,000 signatures Monday night when the Independence City Council discusses the city’s dangerous dog ordinance.
Overland Park leaders also are debating a ban against pit bulls, and Lee’s Summit is considering restrictions.
“I hope they ban them,” Connie Hill said.
Many pit bull owners have called or written The Kansas City Star to say the problem is not the breed, but negligent owners. Many said their dogs were friendly and had never shown aggression. Other pit bull supporters argue that all types of dogs bite people, but it is the pit bull that attracts negative attention.
Kathy Castillo, Alan Hill’s sister, pointed out a pit bull attack that occurred Thursday in Independence during a fight between two men. When police arrived, the pit bull charged the officer, who shot and killed the dog, according to police.
Police found and destroyed the dogs that attacked Hill and the other men.
Paul Piper, 43, faces 10 municipal charges, including three counts of failure to control a dangerous dog.
Police think Piper and a woman were living with the dogs at a house that was supposed to be vacant. Investigators searched the house and found the dogs had trashed the inside and left feces.
That led authorities to believe Piper and the woman had left the dogs there and they got loose.
Piper was to be in court Thursday, but the case was continued. He could not be reached Friday for comment. Meanwhile, Alan Hill, 59, who lives with his wife in Lee’s Summit, remains on a feeding tube at Liberty Hospital. Charles Beggs, trauma medical director, said Hill was fortunate that he was in good health and a physically strong man before the attacks.
“If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t have made it to the hospital, he would have bled to death in the field,” he said.
Hill, a developer, remained on the brink of death for several days after arriving at the hospital unconscious and in shock.
Beggs could not say when Hill would be released. But when he is, he will have a long rehabilitation, including the need to recover psychologically.
Connie Hill says her husband cries often, does not want to be left alone, and fails to see any progress in his recovery.
When he closes his eyes, she said, he still sees the dogs.
Another city considers ban
Add Lee’s Summit to Overland Park and other cities talking about banning pit bulls.
Councilman Ed Cockrell this week proposed in a committee meeting that the breed be banned before the city has an incident.
Two other councilmen had mixed reactions. Ron Williams said people who already own pit bulls that behave should be allowed to keep those dogs, but he would accept a ban on pit bulls coming into the city. Randy Rhoads said a ban might create a false sense of security, because other breeds are capable of seriously injuring people.
City Administrator Steve Lewis said Lee’s Summit had ordinances to handle individually vicious dogs.
“There’s a lot of debate about what’s the best way to go,” he said.
Kansas City, Missouri - A woman recounts the horrors of her husband’s encounter with pit bulls.
The dogs literally tore the skin away from Alan Hill’s body and showed no signs of stopping.
He tried fighting them with his hands. He tried choking them. But the pit bulls dragged him through the vacant lot in Independence like a rag doll. His only hope, he later told his wife, was to crawl underneath his Jeep parked nearby. But the animals kept pulling him away.
“Those dogs were eating him alive,” said Connie Hill, Alan’s wife. “He said they were just chewing his skin.”
When the three animals stopped, Hill somehow climbed in his Jeep and called 911. He told a dispatcher he was dying.
Now, more than a month after the May 4 attack on Hill and two other men, Hill remains hospitalized. He may never fully recover.
Connie Hill and other family members spoke to reporters Friday for the first time since the attack.
Hill was attacked as he finished mowing property he owns near 23rd Street and Kings Highway. The same dogs later attacked a man walking along 23rd Street and another man mowing a few blocks away. The other men have been released from the hospital.
Hill’s family said they hoped awareness of his injuries would help officials in Independence and other area cities ban pit bulls and other dogs that attack. The family plans to present a petition with more than 1,000 signatures Monday night when the Independence City Council discusses the city’s dangerous dog ordinance.
Overland Park leaders also are debating a ban against pit bulls, and Lee’s Summit is considering restrictions.
“I hope they ban them,” Connie Hill said.
Many pit bull owners have called or written The Kansas City Star to say the problem is not the breed, but negligent owners. Many said their dogs were friendly and had never shown aggression. Other pit bull supporters argue that all types of dogs bite people, but it is the pit bull that attracts negative attention.
Kathy Castillo, Alan Hill’s sister, pointed out a pit bull attack that occurred Thursday in Independence during a fight between two men. When police arrived, the pit bull charged the officer, who shot and killed the dog, according to police.
Police found and destroyed the dogs that attacked Hill and the other men.
Paul Piper, 43, faces 10 municipal charges, including three counts of failure to control a dangerous dog.
Police think Piper and a woman were living with the dogs at a house that was supposed to be vacant. Investigators searched the house and found the dogs had trashed the inside and left feces.
That led authorities to believe Piper and the woman had left the dogs there and they got loose.
Piper was to be in court Thursday, but the case was continued. He could not be reached Friday for comment. Meanwhile, Alan Hill, 59, who lives with his wife in Lee’s Summit, remains on a feeding tube at Liberty Hospital. Charles Beggs, trauma medical director, said Hill was fortunate that he was in good health and a physically strong man before the attacks.
“If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t have made it to the hospital, he would have bled to death in the field,” he said.
Hill, a developer, remained on the brink of death for several days after arriving at the hospital unconscious and in shock.
Beggs could not say when Hill would be released. But when he is, he will have a long rehabilitation, including the need to recover psychologically.
Connie Hill says her husband cries often, does not want to be left alone, and fails to see any progress in his recovery.
When he closes his eyes, she said, he still sees the dogs.
Another city considers ban
Add Lee’s Summit to Overland Park and other cities talking about banning pit bulls.
Councilman Ed Cockrell this week proposed in a committee meeting that the breed be banned before the city has an incident.
Two other councilmen had mixed reactions. Ron Williams said people who already own pit bulls that behave should be allowed to keep those dogs, but he would accept a ban on pit bulls coming into the city. Randy Rhoads said a ban might create a false sense of security, because other breeds are capable of seriously injuring people.
City Administrator Steve Lewis said Lee’s Summit had ordinances to handle individually vicious dogs.
“There’s a lot of debate about what’s the best way to go,” he said.